Im over weight

First off, tell us how tall you are. 156 pounds looks very different on someone who is 5'1" as opposed to someone who is 5'10".

And calm down. There's no such thing as spot reduction, but exercise (such as sit-ups) can help you firm particular areas. As for your mother not being able to make you special meals, that's fine -- can you make food for yourself? Take more salad than potatoes? There's ways to do this.

I'm 5'3"

Okay, per the Met Life listings, you're overweight -- http://www.halls.md/ideal-weight/met.htm -- BUT -- keep in mind that these numbers are for adults.

I know that no one loves to hear this, but the best ways to lose weight and keep it off are diet and exercise, and that means a balanced diet and smart exercising. Have you asked your doctor about what to do? He or she may be able to put together a plan with you.

Eat less, exercise more.

What do you usually have for breakfast?

I'm overweight
It's not easy, but with self-control and willpower, you can do a lot. One thing is to cut down on TV.

Another suggestion is never try to be efficient if you're taking stuff from one room to another - take one item at a time. It'll probably drive your family nuts, but you can get in a lot of walking exercise that way. Anyway, works for me.

Keep us posted - we're rooting for you.

The Jury is in folks. Atkins works. Read the paperback and ignore the people who haven't. I know no one who didn't succeed with it, save those who either didn't follow it or understand what to follow (because they never read it). It isn't nearly as constraining as rumor has it.

In the mean time; eliminate sugar from your diet completely. Next limit your breads, potatoes, pastas and cereals to the extent your parents will let you. Even if this is all you're allowed to do, there's a fair shot it will accomplish your goal. Just remember; NO SUGAR.

Exercise will be important to keep you healthy and tighten you back up as the pounds melt away...

Good luck

Alright, first of all, that could be dangerous to your health, especially if you're an athlete or may be one. The absolute BEST way to get that weight off is to diet and make good meal choices. Cutting out all your sugar is not a good thing, neither is cutting carbs way down as those are your bodies main source of energy. If you excercise and diet correctly, you should be able to eat as much as you want as long as it's healthy. I prefer the weight watchers diet. You can have what you want, as long as you consciously make a decision to work off what you eat and follow through with it.

Get a bicycle, ride everywhere. Whatever you do, push yourself. If you don't push yourself, you won't lose the weight.

Cycloptichorn

Needless to say (almost), I favor Cycloptichorn's advice, but that's just me. It's the only exercise I've found that is neither painful nor boring.

shopinchik, what's up with you? It's been a while since your post......have you made any changes?

One warning - don't try to plan a really heavy exercise program or a starvation diet - neither will help in the long run, and the latter will damage your health. Also, while you should push, make sure that whatever you do is something you can keep up with regularly. It's better to be moderate with your exercising and do it every day than to go for a two-hour bike ride only once a week.

And it's better to eat moderately three times day than to try skipping meals.

At LEAST 3 times a day. Never less, and never heavy meals.

Yes, it's better to eat snall meals several times a day, actually.

That does NOT mean a bag of chips and a coke after school. Fruit; a carrot; tea and a low-cal cookie - Nabisco's Arrowroot Cookies are tasty and have only about 15 calories so you get a small reward but no guilt with one or two. Eat them in small nibbly bites; they last longer.